{"id":6172,"date":"2026-08-03T07:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T07:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6172"},"modified":"2026-08-03T07:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T07:37:33","slug":"former-san-mateo-county-community-college-chancellor-gets-jail-for-perjury-tax-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6172","title":{"rendered":"Former San Mateo County community college chancellor gets jail for perjury, tax fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"
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REDWOOD CITY \u2014 A former San Mateo County community college chancellor was sentenced Friday to eight months in county jail for perjury and filing false tax returns, with a judge rejecting his expressions of remorse and telling him that he appeared to think he was \u201cgoverned by different rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ronald Galatolo was convicted in January of four felony counts each of tax evasion and perjury, involving false tax returns, undisclosed gifts and vehicle purchase prices he misreported to the DMV. Galatolo, who had remained free pending sentencing, was handcuffed and taken into custody after the hearing. He will also serve two years of probation and complete 100 hours of community service in a Latino community.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the court, Galatolo wrote that he had \u201cmade some bad decisions\u201d and \u201cshould have been more diligent in preparing my taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of my years on the bench, I\u2019ve read hundreds of letters of remorse \u2026 and what I have learned, among other things, is that it\u2019s easy to say \u2018I\u2019m sorry,’\u201d San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Leland Davis III told Galatolo. \u201cBut I have to say, sir, there\u2019s no good feeling behind your words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis said the letter sought to \u201cminimize or explain away\u201d Galatolo\u2019s conduct rather than acknowledge that he had acted dishonestly.\u00a0Although the judge commended Galatolo for improvements made to the college district during his tenure, he said the former chancellor\u2019s comments suggested that he considered himself exempt from rules governing others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope, sir, that through the term of your probation you\u2019ll be able to fully acknowledge your wrongdoing and sincerely feel remorse for what you\u2019ve done,\u201d Davis told him.<\/p>\n

The sentencing capped a sprawling prosecution in which prosecutors accused Galatolo of accepting gifts, including Super Bowl tickets and first-class travel to Dubai, in exchange for steering lucrative construction contracts to firms associated with his friends.<\/p>\n

Galatolo\u2019s defense argued that he did not decide which firms received contracts and that the gifts were either reciprocated or exempt from disclosure requirements. Jurors could not reach verdicts on 18 charges involving embezzlement, conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds. They acquitted Galatolo of another perjury charge involving gifts reported on his Form 700, which public officials must file to disclose economic interests.<\/p>\n

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San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe decided in March not to retry the unresolved charges, saying Galatolo would still \u201cremain a convicted felon for the rest of his life\u201d and faced an appropriate sentencing range for the eight counts on which he was convicted.<\/p>\n

At Friday\u2019s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Joseph Cannon argued for a prison sentence, describing Galatolo\u2019s conduct as a \u201cpattern of fraud\u201d spanning his personal and professional dealings.<\/p>\n

Cannon said Galatolo had access to information entrusted to him as chancellor and \u201cabused it to enrich himself.\u201d He pointed to a $10,000 donation the district made to the Santa Rosa Junior College Relief Fund that Galatolo claimed as a charitable contribution on his personal tax return, conduct underlying one of his convictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Galatolo was showered with gifts \u2014 concert tickets, travel, sporting events, you name it, and literally all he had to do is declare it,\u201d Cannon said.<\/p>\n

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Galatolo\u2019s defense attorney, Charles J. Smith III, argued that the criminal conduct should be weighed against the rest of his client\u2019s life, including improvements made to the community college district under his leadership. Smith asked the court to impose probation or allow Galatolo to serve any jail sentence through a sheriff\u2019s work program.<\/p>\n

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Smith characterized Galatolo\u2019s crimes as private misconduct rather than public corruption, arguing that jurors did not accept the prosecution\u2019s theory that Galatolo enriched himself by accepting gifts in exchange for government contracts. He also said \u201cnobody was hurt\u201d and \u201cnobody lost money\u201d because of the unreported gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf lack of integrity was a crime, there\u2019d be lots of people we can all name who\u2019d be behind bars,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

After the hearing, Smith said he had sought a sentence of six months or less that Galatolo could complete through community service. Still, he called the outcome \u201call in all fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis failure to accept responsibility and not just try to claim it was a mistake for lack of diligence but rather acknowledge that, yeah, I was dishonest, that hurt him,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Smith noted that Galatolo could have faced up to 16 years had he been convicted on every charge.<\/p>\n

Wagstaffe said that though his office requested a term of two years and eight months in state prison, the sentenced passed down by Davis is \u201ca reasonable one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that\u2019s an appropriate punishment for what he did,\u201d Wagstaffe told this news organization after the hearing. \u201cWe particularly liked what Judge Davis had to say about his lack of remorse. \u2026 Judge Davis heard this trial, he paid attention and the punishment he has handed down today is one that is good for the community. Mr. Galatolo got no benefits because of who he is. That\u2019s what it should have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis denied the defense\u2019s request for a new trial and its motion to reduce the eight felony convictions to misdemeanors. Smith had argued that offenses involving comparable financial losses are often treated as misdemeanors.<\/p>\n

Galatolo led the San Mateo County Community College District from 2001 to 2019, then served for two years as chancellor emeritus. He earned more than $400,000 annually in both roles.<\/p>\n

The investigation began with\u00a0a 2019 whistleblower complaint. A grand jury indicted Galatolo in 2024, and his trial began in October 2025 after several delays. Jurors reached their verdicts in January following eight days of deliberations.<\/p>\n

A separate lawsuit filed by the college district against four construction firms accused of giving gifts to Galatolo ended with a $20 million settlement in June, according to the district.<\/p>\n

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Ronald Galatolo will also serve two years probation, complete 100 hours community service on tax evasion, perjury charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer San Mateo County community college chancellor gets jail for perjury, tax fraud - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6172\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former San Mateo County community college chancellor gets jail for perjury, tax fraud - 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